While he fell short of calling him "Mr. Rodriguez" while talking to reporters Sunday about his third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did make clear that he is no longer comfortable speaking with Rodriguez in more then a greeting in passing.

"I'm not comfortable talking to Alex about this because we feel we are in a litigious environment," Cashman told reporters before in the visiting dugout of Fenway Park before Sunday night's game. "Hello and goodbye, that's about it. I'm not comfortable talking to him anymore. I don't want to be distorted.

Cashman avoided characterizing the state of their relationship, saying it was in his best interest not to.

"It's probably not in my best interests to characterize it," he said. "I had a better one, but at some point it's hard to engage somebody too easily when this stuff is going on."

"These are unique times," said Cashman, who did not disagree when a questioner characterized the team and Rodriguez as "at war." "It's not just Yankees' management. He's putting it at the level of our trainers, our medical staff. The organization. The team."

In their two run-ins this weekend, both entailed a "hello," but that was about it, Cashman said. The two passed eachother in the team hotel Friday night and Cashman said he said "hello."

"I said hello," Cashman said. "I don't walk by him. He's a member of this team."

Cashman went on to say with all the distractions A-Rod has caused the organization, the third baseman is detracting from his ability to do his job.

"Is this a distraction? For me, yes," he said. "I can't speak for others but I know it's definitely a distraction for me. I've got a lot of extra work from this stuff. It's very frustrating."

Because of the extra attention from Rodriguez's camp, ESPN said Cashman could not give an update on the team's injured shortstop, Derek Jeter.

"There's not much to say other than the fact that I wish we weren't dealing with any of this stuff," Cashman said.

Cashman also denied the claim from Rodriguez's new attorney, Joseph Tacopina, that team president Randy Levine told Dr. Bryan Kelly, the surgeon that operated on Rodriguez's hip in January, that he didn't want to see Rodriguez back on the field again.

"I was on every conference call with Dr. Kelly and Randy," Cashman said. "I can tell you that did not happen."

Rodriguez declined to talk to reporters after Saturday's game and before Sunday night's contest with the Boston Red Sox.

Cashman did not comment when asked if any other members of the team had come to him complaining about the drama surrounding Rodriguez.

"I think we have 24 guys in there that are professional and doing everything that they possibly can to try to win games. I think this stuff can be a distraction if you allow it to be, but I think that they're going to rise above that."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he has not noticed it becoming a problem. He also said he can still maintain a player-manager relationship with Rodriguez.

"As time goes on, we'll see," he said, "but so far, I haven't seen it."

Rodriguez was hit by a 3-0 pitch from Ryan Dempster in the second inning of Sunday night's game. An irate Girardi sprinted from the dugout after Dempster was not ejected from the game in defense of his third baseman.

Girardi was ejected after throwing his hat into the dirt near home plate as the benches cleared.